Raspberry harvester

ABSTRACT

A mobile carriage has vertical bush engaging frames in opposed relation to engage opposite sides of the bushes as the carriage advances along a crop row. The frames are divided horizontally into upper and lower sections. The frames are further divided vertically into leading and trailing sections. The frame sections are vertically pivoted at their leading ends and have rearwardly extending vertically spaced flexible bush engaging rods. Each pair of opposed sections has one section that is spring biased inwardly toward the side of the bush, while the opposed section is vibratorily oscillated about its pivot to engage and shake the opposite side of the bush. The leading sections on one side of the machine are oscillated, while the trailing sections on the opposite side are oscillated. Separate and independent drive motor oscillate the driven frame sections on opposite sides of the machine; while the upper and lower driven frame sections can be oscillated in different and variable phase sequence.

dly toward the side while the trailing ABSTRACT Each pair of opposedsections has one Claims, 4 Drawing Figures A mobile carriage hasvertical bush engaging frames in opposed relation to engage oppositesides of the bushes as the carriage advances along a crop row. Theframes are divided horizontally into upper and lower sections. Theframes are further divided vertically into leading and trailingsections. The frame sections are vertically pivoted at their leadingends and have rearwardly extending vertically spaced flexible bushengaging rods.

section that is spring biased inwar of the bush, while the opposedsection is vibratorily oscillated about its pivot to engage and shakethe opposite side of the bush. The leading sections on one side of themachine are oscillated sections on the opposite side are oscillated.Separate and independent drive motor oscillate the driven frame sectionson opposite sides of the machine; while the upper and lower driven framesections can be oscillated in different and variable phase sequence.

Weygandt et a1........... Patzlaff....................... Fontau etUnited States Patent Patzlaff [54] RASPBERRY HARVESTER [72] Inventor:

Haven, Mich.

I22] Filed: Dec. 20, 1971 Appl. Nu:

[58] Field of Search......

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Primary ExaminerLouis G.Mancene Assistant ExaminerJ. N. Eskovitz Att0rneyAustin A. WebbPATENTEDnnvzr I972 SHEET 1 BF 3 INVENTOR ALBERT w. PATZLAFF A TORNEYPATENTEDNnm I972 SHEU 3 BF 3 #0 m K 7 i 4 3 2 /3/ L 'i/ i a W A 4]; 5

A 2 A A 7 z i 5 5 INVENTOR.

7 ALBERT w. PATZLAFF AT TORNEY RASPBERRY HARVESTER RELATED APPLICATIONThis application is a variation of and an improvement on the harvesterdisclosed in the copending application by Albert Patzlaff, Ser. No.41,124, filed May 25, 1970, now US. Pat. No. 3,611,689, dated Oct. 12,1971.

DESCRIPTION;

The drawings of which there are three sheets, illustrate a preferredform of the harvester, and one alternate or modified form of means forspring biasing the yieldable frame sections which oppose the driven Ioscillating sections.

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the harvester.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view of the crop presser andcrop shaker frames on one side of the machine.

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view schematically illustrating the actionof the frame sections.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of a modified form of mounting for thecrop presser frames.

The harvester consists generally of a mobile carriage 1 having raisedside frames 2 mounted on wheels 3 and connected at the top by rigidcross members 4 to form a self propelled machine to straddle a crop row.An internal combustion engine 5 drives an hydraulic pump 6 and anelectric generator 7 as sources of power for the parts of the machine,and an operators seat 8 and control panel 9 are supported centrally overthe crop straddling portion of the machine. Berries shaken from thebushes between the side frames are collected on deflector plates, notillustrated, and delivered to collector conveyors 10 for delivery to therear of the machine in a known manner. The present invention lies in anew and improved arrangement of crop engaging parts which cause theberries to be separated from the bushes as the machine advances alongthe crop row.

The side frames of the machine which structurally support and connectits several parts are collectively or generally indicated by the numeral2 and serve as supports for crop engaging assemblies indicated at 11 and12 on the right and left sides of the machine respectively. Eachassembly includes a support frame 13 and 14 which is connected in anupright longitudinally extend ing plane to the side frames 2 by suitableconnecting bars or brackets 15. The support frames and crop engagingassemblies are similar, but with certain parts reversed. The details ofthe left assembly are illustrated in FIG. 2. The machine advancestowards the bottom in FIG. 1, and towards the left in FIG. 2.

As appears more clearly in FIGS. 2 and 3, the support frame 14 includesvertically spaced and longitudinally extending bars 16. These bars carryupper front bearings 17, lower front bearings 18, upper rear bearings 19and lower rear bearings 20. The bearings rockably support pivot bars 21,22, 23 and 24 respectively. The pivots 21 and 22 oscillatably support anupper crop presser frame 25 and a lower crop presser frame 26 ingenerally vertically aligned position; while pivots 23 and 24oscillatably support an'upper crop shaker frame section 27 and a lowercrop shaker frame section 28, also in generally vertically alignedposition.

The presser frames consist of folded sheet metal arms 30 with rearwardlyand inwardly inclined crop engaging presser rods 32 of flexible orspringable material secured in tubular folds in the arms. The arms areconnected in spaced relation by connector rods 34, and the middle armsof each frame have pivot connections 36 to push rods 38 and 40. Thepresser rods 32 are spaced by a distance of the order of 4 inches, butthis spacing can be varied. The push rods 38 and 40 normally urge theflexible crop engaging presser rods 32 to the inclined positions shownwhere they project somewhat beyond the longitudinal center plane of themachine.

Secured to uprights 42, or other suitable parts of the side frame 2 ofthe machine, are oblique anchor plates 44 for the rear ends yieldablespring rods 46. The spring rods are desirably of strong flexible woodsuch as hickory, to withstand fatigue of repeated flexing, but may bemade of metal or other similarly flexible material. The forward freeends of the spring rods are connected to the push rods 38 and 40 to 48.

The crop engaging shaker frames 27 and 28 consist of folded sheet metalarms 50, connected in vertically spaced relation by spacer bars 52.Flexible crop engaging shaker rods 54 are secured in tubular folds inthe arms and incline rearwardly and inwardly of the machine from thepivots 23 and 24. The middle arms 50 of each shaker frame section 27 and28 have pivot connections 56, which may be adjustable to vary the throwof the frames, to push rods 58 and 60. The laterally outer ends of thepush rods 58 and 60 are pivotally connected at 62 and 64 to rotatingcrank disks 66. As is shown more clearly in the previously identifiedapplication, Ser. No. 41,124, the crank disks are mounted on the upperand lower ends of a shaft 68 carried by a suitable bearing 70 on asub-element of the machine side frame 2. A pulley on the shaft is drivenby a belt 72 from an idler pulley 74, and the idler is in turn driven byan electric motor 76 through the belt 78. The motor speed and drivetrain are designed to drive the crank disks and the crop engaging shakerframes at between and 400 cycles per minute, with about cycles perminute being optimum for raspberry crops.

As is also disclosed in the prior application, the crank pin connections62 and 64 are angularly adjustable about the crank disks so that theupper shaker frame may be operated in out of phase relation to the lowershaker frame.

With particular reference to FIG. 1, it will be noted that thepositioning of the crop engaging presser frames and shaker frames on theright crop engaging assembly 11 and support frame 13 are arrangedoppositely to the positions of the corresponding parts on the left sideof the machine. Upper and lower crop engaging shaker frames 27A and 28Aare mounted at the front of side support frame 13, where they will beopposed to crop presser frames 25 and 26. Similarly, crop presser frames25A and 26A on the right side of the machine are mounted towards therear where they will be opposed to the left shaker frames 27 and 28. Inother respects the structures on the two sides of the machine aresimilar; with the push rods 58A and 60A connected to crank disks 66A anda motor 76A which are suitably mounted towards the front of the machine.The push rods 38A and 40A extend to spring rods 46A which are mountedtoward the rear of the machine.

OPERATION FIG. 3 conventionally iilustrates the action of the harvesterin passing across a normally upright central stalk or cane C of araspberry bush. The leading upper shaker frame 27A is advanced inwardlyso that its flexible shaker bars 54A press the upper end of the cane tothe right of the center. Movement of the cane is opposed and it is heldagainst the bars 54A by the presser bars or rods 32 of yieldablyretracted presser frame 25. Below the upper crop engaging framesections, the lower front shaker frame 28A is retracted so that its bars54A clear the cane. But the lower part of the cane is deflectedoppositely by the pressure of presser rods 32 on yieldably extendedpresser frame section 26. Note that the individually yieldabledeflection of rods 32 produces a slight bow in the lower portion of thecane that is convex to the left as shown in full lines.

When the positions of the shaker frames are reversed by the push rods58A and 60A the bows in the upper and lower parts of the cane arereversed as shown by the dotted lines. The yieldable presser bars 32function to dampen the movement of the cane and cause it to follow theshaker bars in an undulating whipping motion. It should be especiallynoted that a similar but more exaggerated motion will be imparted todivergent side canes C1 of the bush; and further that the side caneswill be moved transversely of their lengths in a wiping or rubbingaction, relative to the central cane. It has been found that thisrubbing action is especially effective in separating or pulling ripeberries from the canes. This results in a gentle but efficient pickingaction without resorting to more violent bumping and shaking action ofdriven shaker frames alone, which may result in damage to the canes andthe breaking or shaking off of berries that are not yet ripe and readyfor harvest.

The example of the harvester illustrated divides the crop engagingframes vertically into two tandem sections in which the bush issubjected to driven shaking action on first one side and then the otherside, while being yieldably held against the shaker frames in eachposition. Note that the use of vertically spaced bush engaging bars orrods 32 and 54 in the crop engaging frames, and the individuallyflexible nature of these rods permits the shaker and presser elements toslip through and between the smaller branch stems and shoots of the bushwithout damage to the berry clusters. The driven shaking action of theframes is therefore applied to the principle and heavier canes of thebush where it is most effective in the action just described.

The yieldable pressing action of the presser frames can be achieved byvarious mechanisms, as can the shaking action of the shaker frames. FIG.4 shows briefly how the push rod 381 of an arm 301 of a presser framemay be passed through a guide hole in the longitudinal member 316 ofbush engaging assembly. Springs 341 are retained around the rod on bothsides of the frame member to produce the yieldable supporting action ofspringable rods 40.

What is claimed as new is:

1. In a mobile harvesting machine adapted to be advanced along a croprow in straddling relation with crop engaging assemblies arranged tosimultaneously engage opposite sides of the crop and extendingvertically to act on the major portion of the crop,

a driven crop engaging frame having its leading edge pivotably mountedon one side of said machine with its trailing edge swingable laterallyaway from said one side,

drive means connected to said driven frame for oscillating said drivenframe about its pivot towards and away from said one side,

a second crop engaging frame opposed to said driven frame and having itsleading edge pivotably mounted on the opposite side of the machine,

and yieldable means connected between said second frame and said machineand biasing the trailing edge of said second frame inwardly of saidmachine and away from said opposite side.

2. A harvesting machine as defined in claim 1 in which each of saidframes comprises a plurality of vertically spaced crop engaging rodsthat are freely self supporting at their rear ends.

3. A harvesting machine as defined in claim 2 in which said cropengaging rods are individually flexible and yieldabie to pressureagainst the crop created by the combined actions of said drive means andsaid yieldable means.

4. A harvesting machine as defined in claim 1 in which said cropengaging frames on both sides of the machine are divided horizontallyinto upper and lower crop engaging sections,

there being two drive means connected to separately oscillate the upperand lower drive frame sections,

and two yieldable means connected to yieldably bias the two opposedframe sections.

5. A harvesting machine as defined in claim 1 in which said cropengaging assemblies on both sides of the machine are divided verticallyinto leading and trailing tandem sections,

there being a driven crop engaging frame at the leading end of oneassembly and another driven crop engaging frame at the trailing end ofthe opposite assembly,

there being two crop engaging frames each opposed to a difierent one ofsaid driven frames,

two drive means connected to separately oscillate said driven cropengaging frames on opposite sides of the machine,

and two yieldable means connected to separately bias the opposite cropengaging frames opposed to said driven frames.

6. A harvesting machine as defined in claim 5 in which said cropengaging frames on both sides of the machine are divided horizontallyinto upper and lower crop engaging sections,

there being two drive means connected to separately oscillate the upperand lower drive frame sections,

and two yieldable means connected to yieldably bias the two opposedframe sections.

7. A harvesting machine as defined in claim 6 in which each of saidframes comprises a plurality of vertically spaced crop engaging rodsthat are freely self supporting at their rear ends.

8. A harvesting machine as defined in claim 7 in which said cropengaging rods are individually flexible and yieldable to pressureagainst the crop created by the combined actions of said drive means andsaid yieldable means.

9. A harvesting machine as defined in claim 4 in which said two drivemeans are connectable to oscillate said upper and lower driven framesections in different phase relation.

10. A harvesting machine as defined in claim 5 in which said cropengaging frames comprise vertically spaced and longitudinally extendingrods that are freely self supporting at their trailing ends,

the trailing ends of the rods in the leading frame sections extendingrearwardly into lateral overlapping relation to the leading edges of thetrailing frame sections. v

11. A harvesting machine as defined in claim 1 in which said drive meansis arranged to oscillate said driven crop engaging frame at an amplitudewhich will swing its trailing edge of the frame across the centerlongitudinal plane of the machine,

said yieldable means being arranged to yieldably bias the trailing edgeof said second crop engaging frame across the center longitudinal planeof the machine.

12. A harvesting machine as defined in claim 11 in which each of saidcrop engaging frames comprises a plurality of vertically spaced andlongitudinally extending crop engaging rods that are self supporting andunconnected at their trailing ends,

1. In a mobile harvesting machine adapted to be advanced along a croprow in straddling relation with crop engaging assemblies arranged tosimultaneously engage opposite sides of the crop and extendingvertically to act on the major portion of the crop, a driven cropengaging frame having its leading edge pivotably mounted on one side ofsaid machine with its trailing edge swingable laterally away from saidone side, drive means connected to said driven frame for oscillatingsaid driven frame about its pivot towards and away from said one side, asecond crop engaging frame opposed to said driven frame and having itsleading edge pivotably mounted on the opposite side of the machine, andyieldable means connected between said second frame and said machine andbiasing the trailiNg edge of said second frame inwardly of said machineand away from said opposite side.
 1. In a mobile harvesting machineadapted to be advanced along a crop row in straddling relation with cropengaging assemblies arranged to simultaneously engage opposite sides ofthe crop and extending vertically to act on the major portion of thecrop, a driven crop engaging frame having its leading edge pivotablymounted on one side of said machine with its trailing edge swingablelaterally away from said one side, drive means connected to said drivenframe for oscillating said driven frame about its pivot towards and awayfrom said one side, a second crop engaging frame opposed to said drivenframe and having its leading edge pivotably mounted on the opposite sideof the machine, and yieldable means connected between said second frameand said machine and biasing the trailiNg edge of said second frameinwardly of said machine and away from said opposite side.
 2. Aharvesting machine as defined in claim 1 in which each of said framescomprises a plurality of vertically spaced crop engaging rods that arefreely self supporting at their rear ends.
 3. A harvesting machine asdefined in claim 2 in which said crop engaging rods are individuallyflexible and yieldable to pressure against the crop created by thecombined actions of said drive means and said yieldable means.
 4. Aharvesting machine as defined in claim 1 in which said crop engagingframes on both sides of the machine are divided horizontally into upperand lower crop engaging sections, there being two drive means connectedto separately oscillate the upper and lower drive frame sections, andtwo yieldable means connected to yieldably bias the two opposed framesections.
 5. A harvesting machine as defined in claim 1 in which saidcrop engaging assemblies on both sides of the machine are dividedvertically into leading and trailing tandem sections, there being adriven crop engaging frame at the leading end of one assembly andanother driven crop engaging frame at the trailing end of the oppositeassembly, there being two crop engaging frames each opposed to adifferent one of said driven frames, two drive means connected toseparately oscillate said driven crop engaging frames on opposite sidesof the machine, and two yieldable means connected to separately bias theopposite crop engaging frames opposed to said driven frames.
 6. Aharvesting machine as defined in claim 5 in which said crop engagingframes on both sides of the machine are divided horizontally into upperand lower crop engaging sections, there being two drive means connectedto separately oscillate the upper and lower drive frame sections, andtwo yieldable means connected to yieldably bias the two opposed framesections.
 7. A harvesting machine as defined in claim 6 in which each ofsaid frames comprises a plurality of vertically spaced crop engagingrods that are freely self supporting at their rear ends.
 8. A harvestingmachine as defined in claim 7 in which said crop engaging rods areindividually flexible and yieldable to pressure against the crop createdby the combined actions of said drive means and said yieldable means. 9.A harvesting machine as defined in claim 4 in which said two drive meansare connectable to oscillate said upper and lower driven frame sectionsin different phase relation.
 10. A harvesting machine as defined inclaim 5 in which said crop engaging frames comprise vertically spacedand longitudinally extending rods that are freely self supporting attheir trailing ends, the trailing ends of the rods in the leading framesections extending rearwardly into lateral overlapping relation to theleading edges of the trailing frame sections.
 11. A harvesting machineas defined in claim 1 in which said drive means is arranged to oscillatesaid driven crop engaging frame at an amplitude which will swing itstrailing edge of the frame across the center longitudinal plane of themachine, said yieldable means being arranged to yieldably bias thetrailing edge of said second crop engaging frame across the centerlongitudinal plane of the machine.
 12. A harvesting machine as definedin claim 11 in which each of said crop engaging frames comprises aplurality of vertically spaced and longitudinally extending cropengaging rods that are self supporting and unconnected at their trailingends, said crop engaging rods being individually flexible and yieldableto pressure against the crop created by said drive means and saidyieldable means, said drive means being arranged to oscillate saiddriven crop engaging frame at between 100 and 400 cycles per minute.